Walmart Announces Plans to Begin Selling Vehicles On April 1

For the majority of people, the city they live in plays a major role in their future moving plans. If they like where they are, obviously they’ll be more inclined to stay. In fact, the most frequently cited reason for moving includes job and business opportunities. According to Auto Guide, some cities might be attracting movers to their towns because of an unlikely, yet popular business.

Walmart, the multinational corporation that’s been in business since the late 1960s, is now dipping their hand in the automotive industry.

According to Auto Guide, Walmart, North America’s largest retailer, is now teaming up with AutoNation to help sell automobiles at certain stores in various cities.

Walmart’s CarSaver program will begin in April 2017 and will help close the gap between impulse vehicle buyers and local automotive dealerships. CarSaver will enable shoppers to not only browse, select, and purchase a particular vehicle, but will also allow shoppers to finance and insure these vehicles through its website or at 25 Walmart Supercenters around the country.

“The right location is very valuable,” said Marc Cannon, AutoNation Chief Marketing Officer. “You want to make sure it’s convenient for customers. It’s not just the sale. We want to keep them as a customer and continue to develop the service part of our business.”

The website Consumerist reports that Walmart already experimented with a similar program at a store in Stuart, Florida last spring. The company averaged more than $3,000 in savings for approximately 80% of buyers.

“Before I sold my dealerships,” noted Chad Collier, a co-founder of CarSavers along with Sean Wolfington. “I noticed that the leads we bought were also sold to 10 to 15 other dealers, and this hurt our conversion rate and the customer experience because consumers were bombarded by multiple dealers’ emails and calls.”

Starting April 1, shoppers at Walmart stores in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, and Oklahoma City will be able to purchase a new vehicle from the continent’s largest retailer.